Ronald Koeman has been talking to Relev looking back on his employment as coach of Barcelona. The current national coach of the Dutch national team was employed by the Catalan superpower for more than a year, when he received his congé in the autumn of 2021 after the away match against Rayo Vallecano. As a trainer of Barça, Koeman made a large number of growth brilliants debut. One of them in particular stuck with him.
Gavi, Ronald Araújo, Óscar Mingueza, Alejandro Baldé and Pedri all made their first minutes under Koeman. The latter made a great impression on the national coach of the Dutch. “I didn’t know him very well. He is a player that surprised me the most, because from day one he was at a level that did not suit his age,” said Koeman. “He was impressive in training. He is modest, professional, has a lot of quality, plays football with both legs and has the peace and overview.”
Pedri’s stormy development did not pass by other European top clubs either. “A week after training with the first team, the club asked me what I was up to with Pedri, Bayern was very interested. I told them that he had to stay, that he would play soon. And that’s how it went. All the talents , like Araújo, Mingueza, Nico, Gavi and Baldé had a phenomenal attitude. I can’t think of anything negative about any of them. They also knew that I was a coach who, if they played well, would give them opportunities.”
Koeman was also known at Ajax for letting players make their debut at a young age. For example, Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his first playing minutes at the age of nineteen under the sixty-year-old Zaandammer. “Van der Vaart, Sneijder… These are all players whose talent you see soon enough,” said Koeman. “Telling them the news that they are going to make their debut is the best thing there is as a coach. We are more used to that in the Netherlands, because there are not many football players here and they are the future.”